Revenge - kind of!

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Today is just the most perfect summer day, and yesterday was the same, so after all the dull and wet miserable weather we’ve had recently (and before we get hit with any heatwave!) I thought I had better make the most of it. I took my laptop outside and was sitting in the shade of our grapevine with my coffee, working while enjoying listening to the birds singing from the bushes. Then the gardener arrived in our next-door-neighbour’s garden. Cue a couple of hours of noisy mowing, strimming etc. (he has an assistant now so can make twice as much noise). I just wanted to yell ‘Shut up!!’ but of course they can do what they like in their own garden, within reason. And tending the garden can of course be considered reasonable. In the afternoon finally all was quiet. By then I had finished my desk-based work and was tackling jobs in the garden, weeding, and planting out some young vegetable plants. I decided to listen to something while I worked, so I tuned in to episodes of ‘Natalie Haynes stands up for the Classics’ * from BBC radio 4, using my phone which I had in my pocket. I had to have the volume quite loud and I couldn’t really adjust it with dirty hands. And as it happens my veg plot is right next to the neighbours’ hedge, as is our tool shed. I don’t know whether they were outside enjoying the quiet afternoon in their perfectly-manicured garden but I rather hoped they were and that my loud podcasts disturbed the peace – although it would be hard to complain about a dose of culture from next door! * Natalie Haynes is an historian, writer and stand-up comedienne and she has created a whole series of ‘Natalie Haynes stands up for the Classics’ podcasts where she takes an amusing but nevertheless fascinating and totally historically accurate look at classical historical figures – for yesterday’s listening I chose Cleopatra, Hesiod, Livia and Athene. I highly recommend these to anyone who is able to access them, they are quite brilliant! https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b077x8pc/episodes/player All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2024.